Time for a Certo Dollina fan club

Dralowid

Dralowid

Michael
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Recent posts about these cameras have made me look harder at some that I have. Interesting things but not in great shape! Here's a quick snap of those that are, for the most part, complete.

IMG_2321 by dralowid, on Flickr

Front row, left to right (as per McKeowan's)

Dollina 'O' front element focussing and shutter release on body. Nickel.
Dollina 'I' unit focussing via knob on body. Chrome. BUT this camera has a shutter release on the body and McKeowan's says it doesn't??? Have I got this wrong? Obviously apart from the release, this and the Dollina II are close relatives.

Back row, left to right
Dollina II
Dollina III a pretty strange thing
Super Dollina McKeowan's says these are not synchronised, this one is.

Dollinas do not seem to withstand the ravages of time well. Perhaps the extensive use of bent bits of metal rather than castings might have something to do with it!

Let's see yours!
 
I've only got one, a post-war Super Dollina II with a coated Zeiss Jena Tessar in a Cludor shutter. Mine's actually in great shape, and it was used extensively by my aunt, who recently gave it to me. It produces some extraordinarily sharp images, but it might be the most fiddly camera I've ever used, so it doesn't go out often.

IMG_1316_1024_zpsb5929908.jpg
 
Very nice, I wonder who Kafota was? Maybe a photographic retailer?

On the assumption that one classifies them by having front element focussing we now appear to have two versions of the so called Dollina 'O', one with the shutter release on the body and one without.

Looks like the same applies to the Dollina 'I'?

That's before looking at lens alternatives.

Is there a Dollina expert out there who can help?
 
Certo really made a bunch of weird cameras with countless minor variations. I give them credit for very highly-featured cameras - my pre-war Super Sport Dolly is dual-format and has a coupled rangefinder and an extinction meter - but ergonomics was apparently not high on the priority list.
 
I wouldn't go so far as to say that I am bored with finding out about Leica conversions but investigating Certo further certainly seems stimulating.

It looks as if so far only the two Super Dollinas are the same. The variations are coming up in 'O's and 'I's ???
 
Charles E. Sumners using (his?) a Certo Super Dollina.
Member of the 166th Signal Photo Company during World War 2

Charles-Sumners-300x294.jpg
 
02Pilot said:
Certo really made a bunch of weird cameras with countless minor variations. I give them credit for very highly-featured cameras - my pre-war Super Sport Dolly is dual-format and has a coupled rangefinder and an extinction meter - but ergonomics was apparently not high on the priority list.
Click to expand...

Hard to argue with that - my Dolly is half-frame on 127, with an interchangeable back that could also take a ground glass for plates (sadly missing on mine), a spectacularly awkward focus lever, and a shutter release apparently put in at the last moment when someone remembered what they'd forgotten! Mind you, once you've actually found the damn lever, it's beautifully light.

As for highly featured - not sure about the Super Dollina, but in the early 1930s the Dolly was as well equipped lens and shutter-wise as the Rolleiflex of the day.

Adrian
 
Muggins said:
Hard to argue with that - my Dolly is half-frame on 127, with an interchangeable back that could also take a ground glass for plates (sadly missing on mine), a spectacularly awkward focus lever, and a shutter release apparently put in at the last moment when someone remembered what they'd forgotten! Mind you, once you've actually found the damn lever, it's beautifully light.

As for highly featured - not sure about the Super Dollina, but in the early 1930s the Dolly was as well equipped lens and shutter-wise as the Rolleiflex of the day.

Adrian
Click to expand...

The shutter release arrangement on my Dolly is a ridiculous linkage that changes direction four times, or it would if it weren't missing a key piece. This means I just use the release on the shutter, which is simple and direct, or a cable release.

I don't know all the variations of the Dollina/Super Dollina, but they seem equally highly spec'd; unfortunately mine has an East German shutter that tops out at 1/200, but that seems an exception rather than the rule. My Dolly has a 7.5cm/2.8 Tessar in a Compur S (with self-timer) - I don't think there was a Rolleiflex available with a f/2.8 lens until after the war.
 
Sounds like another variation! Mine has a plunger, which is just a long piece of wire with a button on the end attached to the shutter release by a screw - but it actually bends around the shutter housing.

There's a photo on a thread in 120RFs, I think - you should add one of yours, so we can let the Dollina lovers get on with it.

Adrian
 
I agree that they are interesting and I was attracted to them because they are great looking cameras also. I tried to get one about 4 years ago but it was just too expensive.
Nonetheless, I would love to have one. Just to look at.
 
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